Jaberwocky
By Lewis Carrol
- 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
- Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
- All mimsy were the borogroves,
- And the mome raths outgrabe.
- "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
- The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
- Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
- The frumious Bandersnatch!"
- He took his vorpal sword in hand:
- Long time the manxsome foe he sought -
- So rested he by the Tumtum tree
- And stood awhile in thought.
- And as in uffish thought he stood
- The jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
- Came whiffling through the tulgey wood
- And burbled as it came!
- One, two! One, two! And through and through
- The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
- He left it dead, and with its head
- He went galumphing back.
- "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
- Come to my arms my beamish boy!
- O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
- He chortled in his joy.
- 'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
- Did gyre and gimbole in the wabe
- All mimsy were the borogroves
- And the mome raths outgrabe.
- `That's enough to begin with,' Humpty Dumpty interrupted:
`there are plenty of hard words there. "BRILLIG" means four
o'clock in the afternoon--the time when you begin BROILING
things for dinner.'
- `That'll do very well,' said Alice: and "SLITHY"?'
- `Well, "SLITHY" means "lithe and slimy." "Lithe" is the same
as "active." You see it's like a portmanteau--there are two
meanings packed up into one word.'
- `I see it now,' Alice remarked thoughtfully: `and what are"TOVES"?'
- `Well, "TOVES" are something like badgers--they're something
like lizards--and they're something like corkscrews.'
- `They must be very curious looking creatures.'
- `They are that,' said Humpty Dumpty: `also they make their
nests under sun-dials--also they live on cheese.'
- `And what's the "GYRE" and to "GIMBLE"?'
- `To "GYRE" is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To
"GIMBLE" is to make holes like a gimlet.'
- `And "THE WABE" is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?'
said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.
- `Of course it is. It's called "WABE," you know, because it
goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it--'
- `And a long way beyond it on each side,' Alice added.
- `Exactly so. Well, then, "MIMSY" is "flimsy and miserable"
(there's another portmanteau for you). And a "BOROGOVE" is a
thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round--
something like a live mop.'
- `And then "MOME RATHS"?' said Alice. `I'm afraid I'm giving
you a great deal of trouble.'
- `Well, a "RATH" is a sort of green pig: but "MOME" I'm not
certain about. I think it's short for "from home"--meaning
that they'd lost their way, you know.'
- `And what does "OUTGRABE" mean?'
- `Well, "OUTGRABING" is something between bellowing and
whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll
hear it done, maybe--down in the wood yonder--and when you've
once heard it you'll be QUITE content. Who's been repeating all
that hard stuff to you?'